The demand in the capital's office market is recovering as the overall economy improves amid a slew of policy stimulus, according to a report by international real estate service provider Colliers.
The net absorption of the capital's grade-A office market in the third quarter increased to 168,000 square meters, compared to a decrease of 53000 square meters in the second quarter, according to Colliers' report.
"The rebound of the net absorption rate is largely contributed to the pre-rent of new projects," said Lu Ming, director of the Research Department for North China at Colliers, adding the absorption rate of existing projects saw no new absorption. "So, the improved figure doesn't mean a strong rebound in the demand side though a gradual improvement is witnessed."
According to Lu, the absorption rate in the first and second quarters saw a decrease of around 50,000 to 60,000 square meters, but there was no decrease in the third quarter, which means the market is gradually bottoming out.
A lack of new demand remains the key problem for the softening office market, said Lu, adding the rent will probably remain flat in the coming months.